Mabel Lucie Attwell

Fake Illustrations on Genuine Susie Cooper Plates

I know we have recently mailed our regular visitors with details of these pieces, but we feel it is necessary to give the subject some more coverage, as we do not yet know how big a problem this recent deception is going to be.

HAND PAINTED MLA FAKES MAKE AN APPEARANCE AT NEWARK
Mabel Lucie Attwell fakes re-appeared at the October Newark International Antique and collectors fair (England) A large Susie Cooper wedding band oval meat plate, pattern 698 was spotted with a hand painted MLA bedroom scene. The centre of the plate was dominated by a young girl in bed, surrounded by green pixies. The illustration was well executed, but the colours used were too pale. Add in the fact that Susie Cooper never produced any nursery ware with Lucie Attwell and you have a blatant fake. The dealer with this piece on display was asking a staggering £300.00 ! Even more worrying, the piece appears to have sold.

On 30.January.2000 We received an email from a concerned Susie Cooper collector informing us that a piece similar to the above description was being offered for sale on Ebay. (See picture below.) over the next few days our email inbox was very busy with requests for information and alerts notifying us of this auction.

The picture shows the most recent plate to appear. Reproduced here by kind permission of Janice Oliver. Both examples seen to date have used large oval platters as their canvas. The plate itself is genuine, with A Susie Cooper Production mark on the reverse and the pattern number 2044, which is correct for the grey/blue and pink banding. No center motif was applied to this pattern.

These pictures show detail of the fake MLA illustration (left) and a real illustration from a Shelley MLA plate (right).
Notice the washed out appearance of the colours in the fake, particularly noticeable in the red pixies, compared to the solid colour used in the original. Also as the original is transfer printed the surface is predominately flat with no brush marks. The white bone china background of the Shelley plate also enhances the image.

I have recently discussed these plates with a Shelley specialist who informs me that Shelley blanks are also appearing on the market decorated in this way. We will continue to keep collectors up to date with any developments. Details and pictures shown here will be permanently posted in our 'fakes' section for future reference.

Please remember that however appealing these pieces may be, and regardless of what any dealer may tell you, these are recently produced items on old plates. Susie Cooper designed her own nursery ware patterns and did not contract Mabel Lucie Attwell to produce any for her.

Our thanks to Janice Oliver and Rick Hubbard for their assistance with this article